The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1887-01-22
THE TURKEY.
Thanksgiving a Day that Gives Special
Test to the Life of the Weary. ,I

thanksgiving III WHICH TO express our
gratitudeto Him, the Giver of all good,
is duty doubly binding upon us. Not
only has He given us all that is needed
for existence, but He has added thereto
manifold things with the sole end and
intent of making that existence pleas
urable. If man, in his obstinaey or
obtuscness, sometimes fails in the full
enjoyment of them, the fault is his.
Desire, capacity and reason have been
given him that he may the better APP
preciate the blessings bestowed; and if
he makes bad use of three such attrib.
utes, the conclusion is plain that he
| would not make good use of dozen
others if he had them.
There are some discontinued mortals
in the world-and, perhaps, it would
not be world without them-who de-
clare they have nothing to be thankful
for; that Thanksgiving was made for
the rich, not for the poor can asser-
ton we will not dispute; but, the
possession of dollars does not consti-
tute riches, nor the want of them pow
erty. There is many man, rich in
deed in all the wealth the world can
bring him, who gets very little out of
his dollars. unless it be anxiety and
misery, and these are not exactly the
kind of riches for which he feels like
being thankful. No. The truly rich,
indeed, are the ones forwhom Thanks
giving was intended and made, and of
these he is richest who is contented
with the least. Men and myriads of
them-have found and could tell the
world the solemn difference that lies
between true and false riches could
they come from the grave to do so.
But our philosophy is running away
with us and making us forget a very
important adjunct to Thanksgiving
or rather something more than an adj
iunct, for it has become, VIC may say,
part and parcel of the day itself;
namely the turkey. Custom now
mixes feasting and mirth with most of
our celebrations, though the events
they commemorate be sacred, or their
origin religious in its character And,
in this, custom is wise. There can be
nothing vory wrong in the enjoyment
of those things which have been given
us for the purpose; indeed, to refrain,
would be rs. Milton says, an evidence
of ingratitudc to the Giver. A free
and cheerful mind, too, especially at
hours of meat. is one of the soundest
sureties for long life. Hope may be
the anchor, but mirth is the cable
whose unrusted links hold our craft
from dashiug on the rocks.
Nor is there any thipg incongruous
in the mixture of cheerfulness with
matters of a sacred character. Long
faced religion must stand, if it stands
st all, upon other doctrines than that
taught by Him, the Master; and its
followers are not following Him when
they practice it. .5.f .5-
But to return to our turkey. How or
when this delicious bird first became
such an important feature at the
Thanksgiving feast we arc not pre-
pared to say. That it is worthy of its
place at any table is the opinion of no
less an authority than Brillat-Savarin,
who enthusiastically says: .Et
''The turkey is, assuredly. one of the
noblest gifts the New World has given
to the Old. 1t is the LARGEST.
and, if not the most delicate, is at least
the most sayory of our domestic fowls.
1t also has the exclusive advantage of
assembling around it all classes OF So
ciety. When our 8yine-growers and
farmers give feast on a long winters
night, what do we behold turning on
the spit before a hot lire?--a turkey.
When the useful manufacturer, the
Woodworking artisan, wishes to give a
treat to his friends the 0bligdto dish is
turkey stuffed with chestnuts and
sausages. And in our high gastronomic
circles, in those select reunions where
politics are obliged to give way to a
dissertation on taste-what is eX-
pectedP What is brought up ut the
second course truffied lturkey.i'
This general gastronomie fitness is
quite as fully appreciated in, the New
as well as the Old World, and from
Thanksgiving up into the month of
February, or even later. the turkey
has little respite from its martyrdom
to the greed of man, and continues to
grace with its juicy presence the tables
OF all classes that feel pecuniarily able
to pay for it, Indeed, Where do ali
the turkeys come fromP' is quite as
often asked as that other problematic
one, which has been puzzling the
brains of all humanity, regarding the
destiny of the pin. We trust. however,
that no dearth in the supply will ever
DC serious enough to cause us any
gastronomic inconvenience. and that
the Nation, as she meets the day upon
the rim of the revolving years. will be
ever ready with the prayer upon her
lips: 'Heaven bless Thanksgiving and
the turkeYr'-The Caterer.